2014 YOUNG PARLIAMENT AT CHEW VALLEY SCHOOL

NARROWING THE GAP

2

June 26th 2014, Young Parliament

Under the generic theme of narrowing the Gap, the host school students chose to

debate Poverty, Ethnicity, Gender and State and Private Education. These formed

the topic areas for four separate workshops which the students ran in collaboration

with an adult leader.

Young people worked across different schools and youth groups to debate their

selected theme and to produce a presentation for the whole parliament to vote on as

the most compelling idea. The winning theme was Gender.

3

GENDER

Gender stereotyping can be detrimental to both girls’ and boys’ sense of self and

limit their educational and career choices.

Some common stereotypes: girls are seen as weak, soft and emotional while boys

are seen as physically strong and mentally tough; girls like to shop and boys like to

play sport; boys will go in for jobs in engineering, mechanics, and science, while girls

will opt for caring roles, cooking, cleaning and teaching.

90% of engineers are boys, 65% of nurses are girls. Women who are leaders are

often labelled as bossy, men as authoritative. In school, there is still a gender gap in

subject performance. Boys do better at Maths than girls. There are three boys to

every girl in top Maths sets. There is a huge gender pay differential in favour of

males. In the UK it is 20% while in the rest of Europe it is 5%.

Narrowing the Gap –

Parents and teachers should challenge offensive terms such as ‘Don’t be

such a girl’, ‘Man up.’ They should react to sexism.

Establish equalities groups in schools, have campaigns to ban ‘bossy’, ‘no

more Page 3’, ‘Girls can play football too.’

Ban stereotyping.

Both genders supported equally in sport.

No sexual intimidation.

Women will always be the ones to have babies but for too long this has been an

excuse not to see them as equal with men in the work place. More consideration

needs to be given to maintaining their status and developing their career aspirations

whilst having a family.

4

POVERTY

Poverty makes us feel:

left out

excluded

missing out on experiences

powerless,

without opportunities

embarrassed

less robust mentally

emotionally insecure.

Some of the effects of poverty on young people:

missing out on opportunities

not being able to do the same things as friends

having to make excuses because you can’t afford something

not being able to do extra-curricular activities because of the cost.

University fees at 9k per annum represent an insurmountable barrier for many young

people. Whilst there is financial support for the very poorest families, university can

be very expensive in other ways: rental, bills, travel, food, books, field trips. Some

students from poorer families cannot afford to go to the better universities, their

choice being restricted to the cheaper lower grade universities.

Narrowing the gap – subsidised out of school activities by councils or local charities

that help young people from poorer families access activities publicised through

social media.

The government should take a more realistic view of the cost of going to university

and the effects of not being able to compete with more affluent students who are in a

better position to get the higher paid jobs.

5

ETHNICITY

As a nation we are not very comfortable at talking about ethnicity. Sometimes this is

because we are worried about offending others by not saying the right thing.

Negative perceptions of what other cultures are like arises from fear and ignorance

but these two conditions can also feed prejudice. Through the media we come to

judge other cultures and countries as being or creating problems, or involved in war,

violence and disasters. Politicians, such as Michael Gove present a blanket definition

of BME as meaning all other ethnic groups, and, in the context of education, all other

ethnic groups, according to Gove, are doing less well than white English people.

Narrowing the gap – culture should be understood and celebrated for its values,

beliefs, the way things are done, its festivals, music, art, literature and stories.

Adults have a responsibility for encouraging the young to be tolerant and accepting

of other cultures and countries. More thought and consideration needs to be given

to religious needs – prayer times and feast days. Difference should be celebrated.

6

STATE AND PRIVATE EDUCATION

Some common stereotypes/perceptions of teachers –

Private school teachers have: State school teachers are:

Ph.Ds Compassionate

Masters Degrees Engaging

Authority Enthusiastic

Influence Firm but fair

Perceptions of private schools are that they outperform state schools; pupils take

more of the places at top universities, have greater career prospects, go into higher

paid jobs. However, the current position is that the top achieving school in the

country is a state school; and academic performance overall is 50 – 50 between

state and private.

Pros of State schools Pros of Private schools

Diversity Better facilities

Don’t have to pay More opportunities

Less elitism Higher grades

Less discrimination 5 times the amount of money per student

More independent learning Smaller classes

Not just focused on academic More funding for extra curricular activities

More focus on equal opportunity Social status and networking

Narrowing the Gap – It’s not whether it is state or private, it’s whether it is a good

school. What makes a good school? Good facilities, able and well-qualified

teachers who have a passion for their subject and can control a class,

social/geographical mix, extensive extra-curricular activities, wide range of curricular

options at GCSE and A Levels, smaller classes.

7

Key Note Speakers: Ed Joseph B&NES MYP

Holly Dando, Equalities Champion, Chew Valley School Chairing the event: Gabe Kelly, Ollie Wright, Chew Valley School Workshop Leaders:

Gender: Marcia Burgham, Teenage Pregnancy Training and Development Officer,

Megan Bendall, Jocelyn Barker, Chew Valley School students.

Ethnicity: Mark de Lisser, Black Families Education Support Worker, Gabriella

Kemp, Davey Armstrong, Chew Valley School students.

Poverty: Jamie Luck, Project Director, Mentoring Plus, Gabe Kelly, Julia Head, Joe

Thompson-Smith, Chew Valley School students.

State – v- Private Education: Cllr Liz Hardman, Rosie Pope, George Phillips, Ollie Wright, Chew Valley School students.

Participating schools and groups: Chew Valley School, Three Ways School,

Fosseway School, Ralph Allen School, Writhlington School, Prior Park School,

Oldfield Academy, St Mark’s School, Norton Hill School, Broadlands School, St

Gregory’s School, Wellsway School, Hayesfield School, Mentoring Plus, Black

Families.